Showing people round house - taking shoes off

mjmal51

Definitely 2 camps here, those who have a no shoes policy already and those who seem perfectly happy to walk around their own and others houses in what are supposed to be outdoor shoes, Once in camp 1 it will always seem strange to let strangers (potential house buyers) from camp 2 into their houses as you do after all have to carry on living there in the meantime and basic hygiene just feels natural.
Do not know the percentage in either camp but roll on the day when shoes off is the norm in the UK.

LittleMissAspie

I hate shoes indoors and I'm only renting so they aren't even my carpets. Unfortunately my boyfriend and I both have some very stubborn relatives who refused to take theirs off when I asked, which really annoyed me.

I'm not sure I would bother asking strangers to take theirs off though. I didn't when people viewed the flat we moved out of and besides, when the letting agent comes for an inspection I'm not even in so wouldn't be able to ask. I'm not so bothered in this place either because the carpets are pretty old and horrid anyway. In the last place they were brand new and I wanted to keep them looking good.

I wouldn't find it rude to be asked, though if the floors had obvious dirt on them I might well point that out.

If you are too embarrassed by your feet to take your shoes off, why not do something about your feet??? A scrub and moisturise once a week really doesn't take that long.

theartfullodger

I have to say IMHO asking people to take shoes off/put on covers will simply reduce your likelihood of selling/getting the price you want. You will appear (but I know you are not..) a fussy picky person who is going to be difficult to deal with.

However, if you really insist on being definite about telling people how to behave then £6:59 + postage should solve your problem................
http://www.shoecovers.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=003

Cheers!

Lodger

Nenen

mjmal51 wrote: »

Do not know the percentage in either camp but roll on the day when shoes off is the norm in the UK.

I think this is the crux of the matter. When I was growing up my mother insisted I ask every one of my friends coming into the house to take their shoes off. It would have been fine if that was common where we lived but unfortunately it was extremely rare and so all my friends thought we were really odd. It got excruciatingly embarrassing (for me and them) when I brought a boyfriend home for the first time ... meeting the gf's parents with holey socks on is awful! :o:o Eventually I had to decide between warning the bf in advance (risking putting him off coming at all) or springing it on him at the last minute (risking holes and stinky feet)! I vowed then that I would NEVER ask anyone to remove their shoes coming into my house. Of course if they offer I appreciate it and fortunately it seems to be getting more common. Personally I would always offer to take my shoes off but I think it is more polite to offer to give someone a shoe cover than to ask them to take their shoes off... psychologically you are offering to give them something rather than (even temporarily) taking something away from them.

GracieP

The thing is this isn't a social occasion, so it doesn't matter if the OP thinks the people coming to the house with shoes on are thoughtless or perfectly reasonable. The OP is trying to sell her house, even if it is through part exchange, in one of the most difficult selling markets in history. If she doesn't want to jeopardise her move she should be doing everything possible to put her all of her viewers at ease and make them feel at home.

If mud gets trampled in, that's unfortunate but she'll just have to clean it up, that's part and parcel of selling a house. I had wooden floors in the house I sold last year and I washed and polished the floors before every single viewing, sometimes three times a day. That's just what you have to do. To make sure my viewers didn't get the slightest negative feeling about my house I took my dogs out for every viewing, which meant I spent hours sitting in the park in the rain with my dogs, usually in the dark as I sold in winter. It sucked, but that's what you have to do if you want to sell. Buyers are like gold dust so make sure you don't annoy the one who may want to buy the property.

And comments like "someone who doesn't want to take their shoes off isn't a serious buyer" is just stupid. Seriously, with at least seven properties on the market for each prospective buyer, treat each and every potential one like royalty.

peachyprice

With the warm weather coming up I'd rather risk people's shoes than making those who come wearing sandals with no socks take their shoes off, leaving the verruca virus, athletes foot fungus and general toe jam for my children to get infected with. :eek:

Let's face it, there are far more people with foot diseases than there are those that would walk into your house with dog poo on their shoes.

bumpoowee

Just ask them to take their shoes off. Any reasonable person won't mind at all. There will of course be awkward !!!!! who will get indignant, however these people are in the minority - although a disproportionately large number of them live on these forums hence the number of replies to this effect.

billyboy11

We always took ours off when we viewed other houses, as commen courtesy. And everyone that viewed ours did the same.

Anyone that leaves shoes on to walk around someone elses property, in my opinion is rude. Just because they are viewing, that being the word, not buying your house, doesn't give them the right to walk around with outside footwear on..

In the same light if i can round someone elses house to price up a job, i always take mine off, and again expect the same courtesy in my home...

quietheart

All sounds a bit OCD to me, my house is clean, I'd expect prospective buyers to wipe their feet but that would be enough. I'd want to make them welcome and I know I wouldn't feel welcome if I turned up at a stranger's house who demanded I took my shoes off. I'm just surprised it's such an issue!:rolleyes:

roses

3KIDSNOMONEY, good for you for sticking by your guns. If I had a no shoes in the house policy in general then I too would ask my guests or buyers to do the same. For all those people who say they would think you a difficult seller, well if I had a buyer refuse to take off their shoes then imagine how they would be later down the line when it comes to negotiation! It goes both ways.

It is not demanding to ask them, you would be asking them politely.